Should i Document my boat

Same here in The People’s Socialist Republic of New York.
Comrade Cuomo and his merry band of thieves don’t care about documentation. They just want the money.
It’s worth the $26.00 a year I pay the USCG to keep the ugly state registration numbers off the hull.
I put the small NY stickers in the side windows so they know I paid the sales tax and their registration fees and they leave me alone.
Yep. Confirm that NY still requires the registration sticker and associated fees.

I was required to document my boat by my lien holder. They want to be able to make first claim and recover to the boat if there are any issues, like theft, etc. It helps secure the collateral.

Relative to my comment about hailing ports. There was a question about trying to find the most advantageous place to register the boat based on state tax structures. If you have a boat documented and the hailing port is one state while it physically is located in another, it may draw some additional scrutiny relative to payment of taxes. Over the years I have heard of tax collectors walking the docks to ensure they get their payments. Also, I have heard (I don't know for sure) that some states require boats to be registered in the state based on how long it's located there. ie, if a boat owner lives in NJ the vessel is berthed in South Carolina for over 45 days (just an example!), SC may require the boat be officially registered there.
 
Also, I have heard (I don't know for sure) that some states require boats to be registered in the state based on how long it's located there. ie, if a boat owner lives in NJ the vessel is berthed in South Carolina for over 45 days (just an example!), SC may require the boat be officially registered there.
Correct, I've never checked to see if all states require it, but for sure most do and the length of time is not always the same. Over 90 consecutive days in NY. WI and MI it's 60 days consecutive. I'm documented, my home port is where I live in WI, my boat is registered in WI, winter layup is in WI, but I rent a full season slip each year in MI. At the same time I often rent a slip in WI and stay for 60+ days. When I registered my boat I chose WI because the sales tax was lower.
 
I looked around a bit because my boat is registered in Michigan but spends most of the summer in Ohio.
All I could find was if you are out of state and spend more than 60 days in Michigan you must change your registration. In Ohio it says "welcome all visitors", and your documentation must be current and match your title to your residence...no mention of time
 
As Brad mentioned there are often requirements by a lender to Document. Besides the issues mentioned in his post there is a significant one that is of value. While not creating a legal document called "title", documentation creates the functional equivalent. The USCG is serious about keeping track of documented vessels and in the eyes of lenders a clean bill of health from the CG is just as good as a state title. Which is the other thing the accuracy state titles can be inconsistent. In large parts due to the number of states that don't issue titles, or that have started issuing them "recently". Recently in quotes because titling might not have been in existence long enough for old untitled boats to still exist. This condition does not exist for motor vehicles because the Feds tie highway funding to proof of accurate titling and registration. There is no such incentive personal property like boats.

H
 
I have no idea about California laws. In Florida, documenting does not remove taxes and registration to the state.

Same in GA.

One big thing in GA is...buy from a private party and pay no sales tax...buy through a broker and pay the 7%.....

Bennett
 
I looked around a bit because my boat is registered in Michigan but spends most of the summer in Ohio.
All I could find was if you are out of state and spend more than 60 days in Michigan you must change your registration. In Ohio it says "welcome all visitors", and your documentation must be current and match your title to your residence...no mention of time

I think you'd be in the same situation as me, depending on which state I register in and where I'm hanging out, if it exceeds 60 days, I'm in violation of one state or the other. That's what I think anyway, I've never called either state to ask about this situation.

Exempt from Registration in Ohio:
  • vessels exempt from numbering EXCEPT documented vessels
  • vessels issued commercial documentation and used exclusively for commercial purposes
  • vessels meeting another state's registration system requirements which are used in Ohio for less than 60 days.
Documented Vessels (over 5 net tons)
ORC 1547.531
Documentation is a federal registration system administered by the US Coast Guard. Boats must be at least 5 net tons to be eligible, which is roughly 30 feet or more in length.

No person shall operate a documented vessel unless the certificate of documentation is valid and available for inspection. The vessel must display the official number, the vessel name and home port.

Documented vessels must be registered in Ohio and display two Ohio tags, but they are not assigned an Ohio number
 
I'd cut off my nose to spite my state. Documenting means I don't have to pay California for annual registration. Any nickel less I have to send to the Republik, is worth...well....a nickle.
In NY with documenting you still have to pay the registration and taxes as I know I have been pulled over for not having the registration sticker only ( no numbers ) and got a ticket. Had to go to the motor vehicle to get the registration and pay the taxes.
 
My experience last year with being in Maryland for several months, they honor the fact that our boat was registered with taxes paid in FL, did not require the taxes to be paid in MD.
 
Yep. Confirm that NY still requires the registration sticker and associated fees.

I was required to document my boat by my lien holder. They want to be able to make first claim and recover to the boat if there are any issues, like theft, etc. It helps secure the collateral.

Relative to my comment about hailing ports. There was a question about trying to find the most advantageous place to register the boat based on state tax structures. If you have a boat documented and the hailing port is one state while it physically is located in another, it may draw some additional scrutiny relative to payment of taxes. Over the years I have heard of tax collectors walking the docks to ensure they get their payments. Also, I have heard (I don't know for sure) that some states require boats to be registered in the state based on how long it's located there. ie, if a boat owner lives in NJ the vessel is berthed in South Carolina for over 45 days (just an example!), SC may require the boat be officially registered there.
Absolutely!
Keeping a boat in New York that you register in another state to avoid the NY taxes is a bad idea.
It’s not something you want to get caught doing.
I’ve heard many stories about the tax guys walking docks and then checking marina contracts.
Ironically, sidewalk vendors and similar people who “make money off the books” operate here tax free seemingly with impunity.
But there is no end to the lengths that the State will go to collect sales tax on boats or income tax from someone who claims to have moved their primary residence to another State.
I personally know of 3 couples who in recent years have established primary residence in Florida while maintaining a summer residence in NY and the State has gone after all of them to the extent that they are downright anal about documenting the time they spend in Florida.
Hmmmm..........might there be a pattern here...........
 
We documented ours for a couple reasons:

Missouri does not charge full sales tax on documented boats. They have a replacement tax that saved us a couple thousand.

I hate the registration numbers. We still have to pay $100 every 2 years for state registration stickers.
 
A sales tax on any used item ought to be illegal in any state or country because the tax was already collected on the sale when it was new.
It's the same crap here in Canada where the greedy bastards collect taxes each time a car or boat change hands. Some vehicles end up having been taxed greater amounts in thier lifetime than the original new cost.
CROOKS
 
so I haven't actually seen this spelled out only touched on. I am going through close to the same thing. My boat is documented in my previous state of NY and I now reside in MD with my boat. When I spoke directly with the USCG they said the hailing port must be either where the owner resides or the boat is berthed. That said I applied for the hailing port change to the document since the city state must be on the transom. That process has taken almost seven months.

The tax thing is one big PITA. MD requires you to get the tax sticker or register your vessel if it is in state waters for more than 90 days.

Page 2 top left:
https://dnr.maryland.gov/boating/Documents/recreationvessels.pdf
 
so I haven't actually seen this spelled out only touched on. I am going through close to the same thing. My boat is documented in my previous state of NY and I now reside in MD with my boat. When I spoke directly with the USCG they said the hailing port must be either where the owner resides or the boat is berthed. That said I applied for the hailing port change to the document since the city state must be on the transom. That process has taken almost seven months.

The tax thing is one big PITA. MD requires you to get the tax sticker or register your vessel if it is in state waters for more than 90 days.

Page 2 top left:
https://dnr.maryland.gov/boating/Documents/recreationvessels.pdf
Holy crap. They want 5% of the value of a boat you already own, up to $15k! I would easily hit the max on my boat. I really hope that’s not an annual fee. Paying $15k every year just to own the boat in MD would be enough to make me get out of boating.
 
Holy crap. They want 5% of the value of a boat you already own, up to $15k! I would easily hit the max on my boat. I really hope that’s not an annual fee. Paying $15k every year just to own the boat in MD would be enough to make me get out of boating.

Although it’s called an excise tax, it reads like a one time sales tax. The process for documented vessels brought into Maryland is a little clearer showing that it is levied when the boat is imported.

5% isn’t bad we paid 6.5% on Serenity this spring as a sales tax. We do have an excise tax but it is based on an arbitrary value formula: x feet long and y years old = “value” The tax is then a percentage times the excise value. Our 2020 excise tax is less than $120.00 and had the boat been as old as the 280, the two excise taxes would have nearly been equal.
 
Although it’s called an excise tax, it reads like a one time sales tax. The process for documented vessels brought into Maryland is a little clearer showing that it is levied when the boat is imported.

5% isn’t bad we paid 6.5% on Serenity this spring as a sales tax. We do have an excise tax but it is based on an arbitrary value formula: x feet long and y years old = “value” The tax is then a percentage times the excise value. Our 2020 excise tax is less than $120.00 and had the boat been as old as the 280, the two excise taxes would have nearly been equal.

Perhaps I’m just not used to this type of tax. In New York you don’t pay tax on property you already own if you bring it into the state

Most NY taxes are on real property, income, or sales tax. NYS sure did get me for the sales tax on the new Jennifer B. I had to pay the upper limit of $19.8k. Luckily NY has a sales cap tax for boats or it would have been a lot more.
 
Sounds similar to FL. One time payment if you are keeping the boat in waters of that state. Nothing to do with whether your boat is documented or not.

Some states have reciprocal, I know FL and MD has an agreement. If you paid the tax in FL you do not have to pay again if you are in MD over the allotted time period for transient.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,950
Messages
1,422,877
Members
60,932
Latest member
juliediane
Back
Top